Call for Papers: Conference on U.S.-Soviet Relations in the Era of Détente, 1969-1976, Washington, DC

The US Department of State will hold a scholarly conference on 22-23 October 2007, on US Relations with the Soviet Union in the Era of Détente, 1969-1976. The conference will be hosted by the Office of the Historian in the Bureau of Public Affairs, and will take place in the new George C. Marshall Conference Center at the US Department of State in Washington, D.C. The conference will feature keynote presentations on US-Russian relations by Department of State principals and comments from former diplomats and senior scholars from both the United States and Russia. The conference will also include scholarly sessions that complement the forthcoming release of Soviet-American Relations: The Détente Years, 1969-1972, a joint documentary publication undertaken by the Office of the Historian of the US Department of State and the Historical-Records Department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Program Committee invites proposals for original papers dealing with the geopolitical and strategic implications of détente from 1969 to 1976. We particularly encourage submissions that draw on recently opened archival collections. Possible themes include, but are not limited to:

• The development of the concept of "linkage" and its implementation
• The US-Soviet dialogue relating to the war in Vietnam
• US-Soviet relations and international security, including the Agreement on the Prevention of Nuclear War and the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT)
• US-Soviet relations and the Middle East, including the 1973 October War
• Détente and Europe, including Germany and Berlin, Mutual Balanced Force Reductions (MBFR), and the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) and the Helsinki Accords
• The development of triangular diplomacy among the United States, the Soviet Union, and the People's Republic of China
• US-Soviet relations and the Third World, including southern Africa Economic, cultural, ecological, and scientific issues in US-Soviet bilateral relations
• Détente and US domestic politics, including the critics of détente

The Program Committee may form panels loosely by historical period (1969-1973; 1974-1976) or by theme, and potential contributors may wish to focus their topics accordingly. Paper proposals (abstract and c.v.; proposals must be in English, which is the language of the conference) should be sent, via e-mail or fax, before 1 June 2007 to:

Dr. Amy Garrett, Program Committee Chair, Office of the Historian
e-mail: garrettac (at) state.gov
fax: 202-663-1289